Nangula Shejavali
18 November 2008
THE Namibia Red Cross Society on Friday thanked donors and organisations that formed part of the relief efforts in response to the flooding in northern Namibia earlier this year.
The floods, which hit all six northern regions, affected over 210 000 people, displaced about 65 000, and flooded close to 150 000 hectares of fields.
Fifty-three people drowned and another 19 deaths resulted from cholera.
Through its disaster relief operations, the Red Cross was able to relocate 5 820 people to seven different camps, where they were provided with shelter, food, healthcare, clean water and sanitation.
In all, the humanitarian organisation assisted more than 40 000 people (4 600 households), all of whom were able to move back into their homes by the end of August.
The relief efforts weren't without challenges, however.
Dorkus Kapembe-Haiduwa, Secretary General of the Namibian Red Cross Society, said in addition to difficulties in attracting international funding, a lack of essential relief items in local markets, the large geographical scale of the operation and difficult access to flooded areas, a number of other problems caused by a lack of sound Government policies on disaster response constrained the relief efforts.
"The lack of warehouses at the regional level, poor co-ordination among different stakeholders, and the lengthy customs clearance of goods for the operations due to the absence of legal instruments during emergencies," were all factors that hampered the response, she said.
Kapembe-Haiduwa called on Government to take action on these issues, saying that the NRCS would "advocate for the application of the International Disaster Response Law to prepare national law, policy and institutional mechanisms to anticipate and prepare for the most common problem areas in the receipt of international disaster assistance".
The Auditor General, Junius Kandjeke, recently reported that the Namibian Government remains unprepared for disaster.
"Even though a lot of money is being spent on the process of disaster prevention and alleviation, there are still serious shortcomings in prevention and disaster management," he said.
Francoise Lagoff, the Head of the Red Cross Southern Africa Zone, commended donors and stakeholders for the national response to the floods, but called on Government to support disaster relief efforts through a policy and legal framework.
"We hope for Namibia to be a role model for the region in creating a disaster response law.
There is also an important need for co-ordination, even in a time when we are not facing a disaster," she said.
Lagoff emphasised this point by stating that "the key indicator in successfully addressing disasters is the national capacity for a strong response," highlighting the importance of a government disaster response framework given the humanitarian impact of the financial crisis.
"The number of natural and humanitarian disasters worldwide are increasing instead of decreasing; there has been an increasing trend in food insecurity; droughts are becoming more frequent; and southern Africa remains at the epicentre of the HIV-AIDS pandemic," she said.
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